5. Shiloh
5
SHILOH
W orking the night shift was unusual for me. In a small town like Marina De Ferrier, we didn’t have a lot of crime and our night shift was mainly skeleton staff. My captain had taken pity on me as a single mom and gave me the option to stick to day shift as often as possible.
It was for that reason, and the fact that most of the department was very understanding of my situation that I traded whenever possible. One of the guys needed to attend his kid’s recital and I chose to swap with him. He took three of my day shifts and I took his nights. He would have the overlap shift next and I would be off. And then we would be back to normal.
Fortunately, my partner traded as well, making sure that I was with someone familiar during the boring nights in our patrol car. That also meant he could tell that something was bothering me and forced me to talk about my problems.
Not that my baby daddy returning after nine years was a problem. Well, it was. But not in a bad way.
It was my turn to drive and as usual, I continued along my imaginary grid of the town. One block at time, I made sure I covered my section of Marina De Ferrier.
“He fired his manager, Joel.”
Joel had been my partner for the last two years. He was at least fifteen years older and had no intention of being more than a patrol officer. “So you said.” He took a big swallow from his to-go cup and faced me. “He may have done the right thing now. But just because he fired some asshole does not exactly make him Father of the Year. Your instincts about the man may have been correct. He didn’t even try to contact you.”
“I know.” I didn’t think telling Joel that my original instinct of moving across the country with the man, would help the conversation. For some reason I wanted to defend Ryder, even if I knew I had no reason to. “All I’m saying is that it looks like he wants to make up for lost time.”
Joel glared at me “There is no making up for lost time. A kid needs his father and Ryder failed on that account. Not to mention that he abandoned you. If he was any sort of man, he would’ve rushed back here to find out what was happening. And now he’s wrangled a dinner invitation from you, he could leave both you and Ethan broken hearted.”
“Invitation is a bit of a stretch.” I put on my flicker and made a right turn onto Main Street. “He told me he would be having dinner with his son every night he could. I mean, he won’t be in town for long, so I doubt it will continue after he’s done recording.”
Despite what he’d said last night, I had to believe that the glamor of LA would call him once more. Before Joel could respond to me our radio crackled.
“Unit 14 Bravo. Report of a body on the corner of Sixth and Leven. RA unit is on route.” The disembodied voice belonged to a nine-one-one dispatcher I was familiar with.
As I took another right turn Joel responded.
“This is Unit 14 Bravo. Dispatch, show us responding.”
Less than two minutes later Joel and I were exiting our vehicle. A couple was standing off to the side. Joel went to them while I went to the figure lying in an alley behind Bowzers, the diner which belonged to my family.
The first thing I did was check for a pulse. “Dispatch. Victim found with a deep cut to his throat. Not responsive, not breathing.” There were lacerations at the victim’s wrists and ankles, he was in his underwear and I could see bruising on his thighs. I checked behind his ear, and sure enough, the one detail not released to the press was evident. A small puncture wound where the victim had been injected. “Dispatch. This is Unit 14 Bravo. Please also send Special Agent Ray Newton from the CBI.”
There had been a spate of men being murdered in Southern California. This was the first victim as far south as Marina De Ferrier. The area between Los Angeles and San Diego had been the dumping ground for men in their thirties and forties. They were always dumped in their underwear. According to the confidential reports, all the men had markings carved into their backs before their throats were slit and they were left outside a popular business in a small town. None of the victims had any connection to the town or the business. At least none that law enforcement were able to find.
Fifteen minutes later, the ambulance was waiting for Agent Newton and Lilly Salinger to finish their initial processing of the scene. The crime scene investigators took samples and Joel was still taking the witness statement.
Lilly spotted me and smiled. She exchanged a word with Agent Newton and he walked over to Joel. No doubt, to follow up on the witness statement he was in the process of collecting.
“Shiloh.” Lilly’s smile had always been a thing of beauty. Even under the circumstances, it overshadowed everything else. “Can you come here, please?”
I walked over to her, making sure I went to parts of the scene that had already been processed. “Do you need my help with something?”
“Agent Newton contracted Salinger Security to help with this investigation. In particular, he wanted my skills.”
I knew Salinger Security had been called in. That was how I knew as much as I did. Still, I frowned. “But you’re a profiler. And you don’t work in the field.”
It wasn't a secret that Lilly only went into the field if it involved troubles in her family.
“I don’t work with my husband in the field. And we prefer the term, behavioral analyst.” She folded her arms and looked around the scene. “What made you think to contact Agent Newton?”
Oh. She was testing me. She wasn’t disappointed when I decided to stay in town and raise Ethan where I had a support structure. But she did promise that when I was ready, she would be poaching me from the police force to assist her at Salinger Security. Even after fifteen years, she was still the only profiler at the company.
“The state I found him in. The marks at his throat and he’s down to his boxers. Also, the markings on his wrists and ankles that show he was restrained at some point. I didn’t turn him over because I didn’t want to contaminate the scene, so I don’t know about the markings on his back.”
“Shiloh.” Lilly narrowed her eyes at me. “The marks on their backs were not released to the press. And the report cannot be found on any police server.”
I rolled my lips and didn’t answer. We all knew Salinger Security hacked the department’s server from time-to-time. No one complained because it actually helped the department. But I also knew that most hacking routes could go both ways. And I had two friends who knew exactly how to do that.
“Are you going to force me to reveal my source?”
She rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore my question. “What else did you notice?”
“Victim was not killed here. But there was a substantial amount of bruising. Maybe from the original capture?”
“We’ll need to contact your father to see if he recognized the man at all.”
It was unlikely. Bowzer’s belonged to my foster father, Harry Bauman. So, it made sense to question him about a body found at the back of his diner. But, up until now, none of the victims had any connection to their dumpsites.
“Have any of the victims had any connections to the other towns and dump sites?”
Lilly tried to hide her small smile. “We are looking into that? There has to be a reason they are being taken in one town and then dumped in another.” She looked through her notes and frowned. “Did the CSI’s find anything incongruous around the body?”
That wasn’t in any of the reports I’d been able to access. “Like a calling card?”
“No, I think the marks on the back is the calling card. But we managed to find some kind of toy at every scene.”
On and on Lilly questioned me. At no point did she correct me. Further proof she was testing me and gaining information about the crime scene at the same time.
When we were done, she tilted her head and smiled at me. “So. Rumor has it that you and Ryder Hawkins were having a cozy chat at the recording studio earlier. And then someone saw his car outside the manor earlier. You know, around the time you have dinner with Ethan when you’re working the night shift.”
“My friends suck.”
“I don’t know. I heard it from Everly. Apparently, she had a front row seat to it all. No doubt the moms who chaperoned with you also had a hand in spreading things around town.”
Of course. “Look, I need to speak to Tess and Harry first. But Ryder is Ethan’s father. He is not the villain in this story. So please let the men know not to kill him.”
“I love that you know that warning is necessary.”
“Also, I am an officer of the law. So, no threatening, no kidnapping, and no attempt at driving him out of town.”
“I cannot promise anything. But if you say there are mitigating circumstances and he does right by that kid, he’ll have nothing to worry about.”
It was only once Joel and I were once again in the patrol car that I was able to check my phone. Joel took the wheel, allowing me a chance to read the messages from The Pancake Club. It was the name my girlfriends had given our group chat, since we’d started making pancakes for our birthdays when we were teens.
Maggie: So rumor around town is that someone’s baby daddy was at the recording studio this morning
Skylar: Yip. I was banned because it was a field trip day. But Connie Crows couldn’t wait to share when she caught me at the drugstore earlier
Maggie: I mean now that I know, I can totally see it.
Grace: It's those eyes.
On and on they speculated. Actually, I thought it was the wrong word. They chatted as if it was fact. Which it was. But they weren’t even concerned whether I confirmed or denied anything. Eventually the chat topic changed.
Skylar: Are we all doing the obstacle course tomorrow?
Grace: No. For one I have a doctor’s appointment. Also, I don’t want to.
That was the last message before the chat went silent and worry gripped me.
Me: Doctor’s appointment? What’s the matter?
Grace: Nothing’s wrong. I have my first consultation with the reconstructive surgeon.
As long as I could remember, Grace had wanted bigger breasts. It had taken her years to build up the courage to make the appointment. I was happy she was finally doing it.
The chat with my friends meant I didn’t have to dwell on the situation with Ryder. Sure, he needed time to get to know Ethan. He also needed to understand that I needed time to know and trust him with the most important person in my life.
The rest of our shift was quiet and once we pulled into the station at seven am, the place was buzzing about the body Joel and I had found.
As we were removing our equipment from the car, my cell phone buzzed once more.
Ryder: I think we need to talk
Shiloh: Wanna meet for breakfast?
Ryder: The only breakfast place in town is your father’s diner.
And Harry would be there since the police would have questions about the body they found outside.
Shiloh: I’ll be home in an hour.
I quickly texted Tess, to ask if she minded taking Ethan to school. He’d stayed there last night for my shift and she would get him ready for school. But I usually picked him up and drove him and Maggie’s kids to school.
Not even a minute later she texted back
Tess: Of course I can sweetheart. Do you need me to bring you breakfast?”
Shiloh: No, I need to do something. And I have the obstacle course race with Aidan and Jason this morning, too.
As quickly as I could I went through my paperwork before signing out.
I arrived at my cottage to find Ryder sitting on my front step. He looked too damn good. The black leather jacket looked worn. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would assume it was the same one he wore all those years ago. But, under that, he wore a loose shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. Seriously. The man was out to drive me insane.
He stood up as I approached. “Jason said you’re also doing the obstacle course thing.”
Oh, silly man. Jason and I had been in competition since high school. It was a toss-up which of us were better. Of course, neither of us held a candle to our Special Forces friends, but we didn’t need that, we just tried to beat each other. “Yeah. I need to change, though.”
“Okay. We can drive together.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You sound serious.”
“Shi. Let’s talk on the way.”